1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to chewing gum and more particularly to flavored chewing gum having a combination of ingredients enabling it to stimulate salivation synergistically beyond that attributable to the act of chewing or attributable to the salivation effect of the ingredients alone, to reduce fatigue and to replenish body salts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chewing gum is used by athletes and other persons while exercising to relieve nervous tension. Chewing ordinary gum for a prolonged exercise period sometimes causes a dry mouth condition known as "cottonmouth". Exercising, of course, causes muscular fatigue, and loss of essential potassium and sodium salts through perspiration. Shelf life, that is, the ability to remain soft and readily chewable in storage, is important.
Known gum compositions typically contain some form of chewable gum base, a softener, a flavoring ingredient, and a sweetener which can be either natural or artificial. While certain organic acids derived from natural products such as fruits, vegetables, plants and milk, stimulate salivation, to be effective for this purpose, they have to be used in such high concentrations (above 3%) that people would object to the strong, sour taste. One example of such an organic acid, which is an excellent salivating agent, is citric acid. Straight lemon juice, containing 5 to 8 percent citric acid, is too sour to use, as is, and must be diluted substantially for use in foods and beverages. In the low concentrations normally found in foods and beverages, citric acid is not a very effective salivation agent.
Chewing gum is an ideal medium for the controlled release of salivating agents, quick energy sugars, and sodium and potassium salts, for athletes or other persons engaged in strenuous exercise. However, prior to the present invention, no gum composition had been developed which could do all of these things.
No one to the applicants' knowledge has been able to solve the problem of putting a sufficiently high concentration of one of these organic acids in a gum composition to provide a high salivary stimulation and still have a tolerable taste. The only example which has come to the applicants' attention is the chewing gum composition disclosed in Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,087 where sticks of gum containing citric acid are dusted with miraculin powder, an odd substance which has the peculiar, taste-inverting characteristic of making sour things taste sweet. This is exactly the opposite of the effect which is needed in a saliva stimulating gum composition which should be quite tart for maximum salivation, but not objectionably so.
Aktins and Attaway U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,424 is another example of prior art which discloses a commercial, bottled citrus drink employing orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, or other acid fruit juices. Reference is made to use by athletes or other persons for replacing the loss of body fluids which results from exercising or working in high temperature environments. Calcium, sodium and potassium ions are included as supplements to make up for loss of these ions in perspiration. These citrus juices are very diluted and lack the concentration required for producing any salivation effect. Citrus juices, marketed in a can or bottle cannot serve the same purpose as chewing gum. A professional athlete can chew gum while playing football, basketball or hockey to obtain extended slowrelease benefits therefrom, but obviously cannot carry a bottled beverage into play.
Further examples of the state of the art are shown in Ogawa and Terasawa U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,847, and Bilotti U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,689. Both relate to chewing gums. Neither discloses any salivation stimulating percentage (above 3%) of any organic acid. The Ogawa et al patent has only a single example illustrating about 0.2 percent tartaric acid which is insufficient for salivation. The Bilotti patent does not mention any organic acid ingredient at all. The gums disclosed in these patents are totally ineffective to act as salivary stimulants other than that which would be attributable to the act of chewing itself.
Further, no chewing gum compostion known to applicants includes ingredients which replenish fatigue-related body salts such as potassium and sodium ions lost in perspiration during exercise.
Conventional chewing gum products tend to lose moisture and harden in storage, notwithstanding the fact that some of them contain hygroscopic ingredients for enhancing shelf life. It is a common expectation that an old stick of gum will be dried out to the point where it is tough, hard, and even brittle.